


Curse of Coughing

by anxious_soul



Series: Tony Stark-Centric Series [88]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Family, Blood Loss, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Choking, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Coughing, Curses, Domestic Avengers, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Medical Inaccuracies, Protective Avengers, Serious Injuries, Somewhat decent Loki, Tony Angst, Unconsciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26232583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_soul/pseuds/anxious_soul
Summary: In which an ancient and forbidden curse is cast and Tony is its' unfortunate victim with hours to live.
Series: Tony Stark-Centric Series [88]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1126895
Comments: 10
Kudos: 160





	Curse of Coughing

**Author's Note:**

> Bad Things Happen Prompt(s): C's- Choking (kinda), Clawing at Own Throat (faint mention), Coughing Up Blood and Cradling Someone in Their Arms.
> 
> I used an Old Norse dictionary for the curse name and all that; if it's inaccurate, sorry but...
> 
> I've just finished writing D up, that might be out later this week or next week depending on how nice I'm feeling :P, I am probably going to skip E (eating disorders), I've given it some thought but I can't quite get a plot to form; who knows, I might change my mind though -just a heads up. 
> 
> Editing was a bit rushed, so I'm sorry if I've missed any mistakes!

With sleepy eyes, Tony stood in the communal kitchen waiting for his coffee to be done; a tickle rose in his throat causing him to cough, which was enough to startle the snoozing archer awake.

“Woah, stay away from me if you’ve got something, I have a date tonight and I don’t want to get ill,” he complained half-jokingly as he stared at the genius, who had his back to Clint as his coughing continued, “Tones?” Clint called worriedly as he walked over to the shorter man, whose coughing would not stop.

The genius turned around with wide and terrified cinnamon eyes, his coughs slowly coming to a stop as he panted heavily and lowered his hands that he’d used to cover his mouth as he coughed. That was when Clint saw it. Tony’s hands were painted crimson just like his lips. 

“Clint,” he choked but before he could say more, he began to cough again; harsher and heavier, his legs weakened and he stumbled backwards before his knees buckled as he clawed desperately at his throat. The archer caught him just as he was falling to the floor, collapsing with the genius above him, Clint cradled Tony in his arms, patting his cheeks as whisky eyes fluttered to a close and the coughing came to an eventual stop. 

“Help,” Clint shouted, “I need help!” The high volume of his voice didn’t even make the genius flinch, indicating that he was out cold, “JARVIS, get me some help!”

**——LINE BREAK——**

Tony lay in the hospital bay of the Tower; his pale and flushed complexion only whitened against the light bed he was in. Hooked up to him were monitors that kept track of his vitals, a bucket to cough into and a bag of blood that was being transfused into him in an attempt to counteract the amount of red liquid he was losing.

With heavy-lidded eyes, Tony looked around the room at his teammates who were in varying states of worry; Clint sat atop the medical cabinet with his elbows on his knees and face resting in his hands, Natasha was sat in a chair by the bed with a heavy frown full of concern, Bruce stood at the end of the bed looking worried as he kept an eye on Tony’s vitals and Steve was pacing the length of the room with his arms crossed, worry seemed to seep from the man. The resident god, however, was nowhere to be seen; he had been the first to arrive at the scene and had helped get Tony to the medical bay. After hearing from Clint what had happened and then watching as Tony woke up coughing up blood, Thor had gasped and quickly fled the room; no one had followed, they’re attention was focused on Tony after all.

The Asgardian returned with a tome in his hands, he looked up at his teammates and went to talk only for Tony to cut into the silence with coughs that shook his body as he hacked blood into the bucket. Once he’d fallen backwards so that he was laying down, exhausted but silent, Thor spoke up.

“I have found out why Anthony’s affliction sounded familiar; I learned about this in my history lessons,” Thor started as he turned the large tome around and showed the page he had been reading. The others barring Clint and Tony shuffled close to have a look but the writing was in an ancient language no one could understand. But Thor, of course. 

“So what’s up then?” Tony choked out drawing the attention back to him, but he only had eyes for Thor.

“It’s an ancient and forbidden curse called _‘Silfr Tungur Fjǫrlag’_ ; it’s Old Norse and literally translates as _‘Silver Tongues Death’_. It was used against criminals sentenced to death who, to put it bluntly, talked too much, were manipulators with their words and liars. Anyone who was a prisoner or enemy that could twist and turn words was sentenced to death via this curse.”

“That’s an insult,” Tony choked, “which am I? Silver tongue, manipulator of words or talkative?” He asked, coughing slightly and everyone watched as a bit of blood slipped past his lips; it ran parallel to his jaw, rolling down to his neck due to the laid position he was in before it finally came to a stop in the groove of his collarbone. 

“I suspect it is all three for you, my friend. You are a known master of the word, after all. Do not see it as a bad thing, though.”

“Thor, how can we stop this?” Steve asked getting the conversation back on track, the god grimaced,

“Unfortunately, I do not know,” he held a hand up to stop the others from shouting, “however, that is only because I am not a magic wielder. I am about to go to Asgard and speak with my mother; she’s a Master Sorceress and should be able to help.”  


“Thor, how much longer do we have?” Bruce asked timidly and the blond sighed wearily,

“The curse can last anywhere between twenty-four and forty-eight hours. By replenishing his blood,” he said gesturing to the blood transfusion, “he should hold out closer to the forty-eight-hour mark, but he is of Midgard and there is no saying how the curse will affect him.”

“You never told us what it did,” Natasha mentioned,

“It causes its victim to cough up all of their blood until… they’ve lost it all and die. It’s a cruel and painful process,” Thor murmured before turning to Tony, “the less you talk, the less you will cough up blood. That’s not a solution, but it should help you hold out long enough for me to find a cure for you,” Tony nodded and ran his pinched thumb and index finger across his lips in a _‘my lips are sealed’_ gesture. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

Thor flew through Asgard using Mjölnir in search of his mother the moment he had arrived; he found her chatting with some ladies and the minute Frigga caught sight of her distressed son, she excused herself and approached him.

“Thor, whatever is the matter?” She asked,

“Mother, what do you know of the old and banished curses?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about them,” she murmured still confused, “being forbidden and downright horrific, I refused to learn of them.”  


“So you wouldn’t know anything about the ‘ _Silfr Tungur Fjǫrlag’_?”  


“No, I wouldn’t know any more than what is in that tome you are holding,” Thor sighed heavily looking utterly defeated at her words; seeing how her son was acting, she squeezed his shoulder, “what’s going on, my son?”

“My teammate, Anthony, somehow he got hit with this curse,” Frigga fell silent for a few moments, an idea brewing in her mind but she was unsure of how Thor would react to it, 

“Do not despair just yet my son, for I can think of two options. The first option is that we search the library _together_ and find a cure, however, I fear that even with two searching, we may not be quick enough for your friend. The second… _I_ search the library by myself, in the hopes of finding something… whilst you go and talk to the only person I can think of who could know the information you seek,” 

“Who?” Thor asked though he already knew the answer,

“Your brother, Loki.”

**——LINE BREAK——**

Back in the Avengers Tower, Tony’s condition was only worsening. He had barely uttered a word, which was just as disturbing to the Avengers as his dying state, yet it did next to nothing in slowing down his coughing. By Bruce’s calculations, Tony had lost thirty percent of his blood. It wasn’t good. Especially as once Tony his fifty percent… his body would start to shut down. But, with three pints out of ten lost, the genius’s blood pressure had dropped dramatically and his heart rate was increasing too much. Without talking, he’d shown his confusion and disorientation over everything, whilst his breathing had become rapid and shallow. 

The team could do nothing but watch and pray that Thor hurried back with a cure _soon_.

**——LINE BREAK——**

Approaching the cell that his brother was lounging in looking bored, Thor cleared his throat to gain Loki’s attention, but the trickster merely continued to read his book, completely ignoring the larger god.

“Loki now is not the time for your petty games,” it was the way Thor growled that caught his attention,

“Very well, however can I help you?” He snarked,

“What do you know about the ‘ _Silfr Tungur Fjǫrlag’_?”  


“Hmm… I might know quite a bit,” he smirked and Thor growled once more only without words,

“Do you know how to cure a victim of the curse?”

“Perhaps.”

“This is important, _brother,_ do you or do you not?”

“Yes, I do know how to both cast and cure this curse,”

“I need you to cure my friend,”

“And now why would I do that? Your ‘friends’ are limited to your precious _Avengers,_ annoying girlfriend and her two _buddies_. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t mind if the universe lost one of them -if not all of them.” Out of anger, Thor hit the clear wall of the cell and Loki could only grin at the reaction.

“Mother said if you helped, she would speak to father about reducing your sentence _and_ she’d ensure that you were moved from this cell to spend the remainder of your sentence in your quarters,” that caught the dark-haired god’s attention,

“Who is it?”  


“What?”  


“Who got cursed, you blithering idiot?” Loki snarked snapping his book shut as he stood up,

“Anthony Stark.”

“Ah yes, the Man of Iron."  


“Will you help or not, brother?”  


“I am not your brother, but I shall help. Luck be with you, Thor, Stark is the only one of your acquaintances that I can stand.”

“Thank you, brother,”  


“I repeat, I am not your brother,” he stated, pausing briefly, “and don’t thank me yet."

**——LINE BREAK——**

He wasn’t sure when, but at some point, Clint had moved off of the cabinet and had taken a seat right beside the genius; grabbing a trembling and pale hand, the archer stared down at it, worry only increasing with every second.

“Date?” Tony croaked and Clint looked up startled, the genius had been delirious yet as the archer stared into his whiskey eyes, he found that the man was very much aware in that moment despite the slight glaze in his eyes.

“What?”

“Why you here? Got… date.” Tony muttered limiting his words as it hurt to speak and he knew that he had lost too much blood so if silence or fewer words helped give him a bit longer, then he’d be careful with what he did or didn’t say.

“God, Tones, I know I’m a dick at times, but I’m not going to leave you for some chick; bros before hoes and all. Besides, she doesn’t even know who _Hawkeye_ is so I doubt the date would’ve gone well; especially given her apparent crush on our resident god,” a smirk crawled up Tony’s face before he fell into another coughing fit, choking painfully as red spewed past his lips; Clint had to grab his hands to keep him from clawing at his throat again, the genius already had small cuts across his neck from where his nails had dug in previously. 

A flash of light caught their attention and seconds later the team were standing defensively around Tony’s bed as they caught sight of a familiar black-haired, green wearing villain they once fought.

“Thor, are you insane?” Clint hissed, 

“Can you explain to us why you’ve brought your brother, Thor?” Steve cut in before the archer could spout anything offensive, 

“I apologise, but my brother-“  


“Not your brother,” Loki muttered cutting Thor off, who merely ignored him and continued as though he hadn’t spoken,

“-is the only one who can help him.”  


“How do we know that we can trust him?” Natasha asked with narrowed eyes,

“You don’t, but _he,_ ” Loki stated gesturing to a pale-faced and barely conscious Tony, “is hours if not minutes away from succumbing to the curse,” a cocky smirk spread across his face, “at this moment, I am your only hope.”

“Do it,” Tony croaked, his voice barely more than a whisper and everyone turned to look at him,

“Tony-“ Steve started to protest, but the genius shook his head as gently as he could,

“Do it,” he repeated barely getting the words out before his body shook with more coughs; blood dribbled down his chin as his body trembled like he was suffering through a seizure.

“It’s getting worse; may I?” Loki asked, his expression becoming serious and his eyes lost his snarky attitude,

“Please,” Bruce was the one to say, “save him.”

“ _Blóð hósti ógǫrr, lífdagar gildi ok þá koma,_ ” Loki incanted, his hands glowing green as he held them over Tony’s chest. 

**——LINE BREAK——**

He awoke slowly; eyes fluttering like a butterfly’s wings as they became accustomed to the bright white of the room. He was confused for a moment as he tried to remember what had landed him in the hospital room. _Coughing, blood, choking, curse, dying, Loki_. His mind supplied him with images of the events he’d gone through as he lightly touched his sore throat. 

“How are you feeling, Tony?” Someone asked and that was when he realised he wasn’t alone; accepting the glass of water and taking a sip, he turned to the speaker. It was Clint.

“Better,” he whispered, daring not to speak loudly as his throat was still painful,

“Good and I recommend not talking much or talking quietly when needed,” Bruce stated as he inserted himself into the conversation, “there’s no telling how much the curse damaged your throat; so just be careful, _please._ ”

“Okay,” he murmured before turning to Thor, “thank your brother for me, yeah?”

“Aye. I will do just that, my friend. I am about to return to Asgard to search for the culprit who cursed you, but I wanted to wait until you woke,” Tony nodded his thanks, “I am glad you are well, Anthony,” were his parting words before the god left the room. 

“We’re all glad you’re doing much better,” Steve added,

“Damn right we are, dude, you almost died,” Clint exclaimed only to receive a slap on the back of his head from Natasha, who turned to Tony with a gentle smile,  


“It was certainly a worrying situation, so don’t you ever do that to us again,”

“Nat… for once it wasn’t my fault, just keep that in mind,” Tony croaked with a crooked smile causing the redhead to roll her eyes fondly.

“I recommend bed rest, Tony, you lost a lot of blood and as everyone’s said, you’ve worried us a lot and I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Bruce murmured and Tony patted his hand gently with a smile of his own before he let his eyes flutter close. He drifted back to sleep unaware that he’d already spent a day fast asleep due to Loki curing him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Cure incantation: blood coughed undone, life return and then recover = blóð hósti ógǫrr, lífdagar gildi ok þá koma (yeah in English it's bad, but the Old Norse looks cool!)
> 
> [My tumblr](https://anxious---soul.tumblr.com) feel free to say hi or something!  
> 
> 
> Anyway,  
> Thank you for reading,  
> Hope you enjoyed this,  
> Please leave a kudos and a comment  
> 


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